Dusty Slay brings down-home comedy to perform at Pittsburgh Improv

Dusty Slay tells the story of the custody battle between his parents.

“I was 2 years old, and my mom lost,” the comedian told the Tribune-Review. “So I had to go and live with her.”

That’s the type of joke he will tell when he visits Pittsburgh July 18-21 at the Pittsburgh Improv in Homestead. He uses real-life experiences of growing up in a trailer park for some of his funny material.

“I make fun of myself and the trailer park I grew up in,” he says. “The worst thing about living in a trailer park is saying or writing the address of the trailer park. I remember we had a frozen tree limb fall through the roof and break a shelf of ceramic owls my mother had. A ceramic owl collection is the perfect decoration for a trailer. We never got that leak fixed. Just put a bucket under it.”

Slay has appeared on “Comedy Central,” “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and “Last Comic Standing.” He became the youngest comedian to perform at the legendary Grand Ole Opry Stage in Nashville, Tenn. And he has his own YouTube channel.

His comedic inspiration

The stand-up comedian grew up on Lot 8 of a mobile home neighborhood in Alabama, and his observational comedy and eternally optimistic outlook is peppered with ironies, he says. Slay is most recognizable by his trucker hat, long hair and mustache, flannel shirt and oversized glasses.

He says he has been inspired by his parents Richard and Edna and that his show incorporates some similarities to comedians Mitch Hedberg and Ron White, but that he’s developed his own style. He and his wife, Hannah Hogan, do a podcast together. The couple likes talking and will talk about anything.

“For as long as I can remember, I tried to make jokes because I wanted to become a comic,” he says. “We need laughter. It is so important. I try to be a distraction with my comedy.”

Tickets are $15.

Details: 412-462-5233 or dustyslay.com